James Franklin impressed with Lamont Wade’s early spring ball

Highly-anticipated early enrollee Lamont Wade impressed in the weight room during winter workouts, and he’s doing the same now on the practice field.

“He’s a different kid because he’s physically developed,” Franklin said Wednesday of the former five-star cornerback. “... He’s got tremendous confidence, as we all saw in high school. But with some guys, that goes away when they get to college; that hasn’t gone away. He has a lot of competitive confidence.”

So what’s next for Wade? He has two-thirds of the spring left to inch closer to significant time in 2017.

And from Franklin’s perspective, the Clairton product is on track to do just that.

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“You never know, does he hit that wall once the installations continue to build up? Haven’t seen that yet, so it’s been good,” the coach said. “I think he’ll put himself in position with a really good foundation this spring to go into the summer with the confidence to have a chance to legitimately compete.”